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Best for: The environmentally-conscious player needing absorbency and tackiness

April 2020 – For some tennis players, they might not know anything about Eco-Grip as a company. They aren’t exactly household names in the tennis industry, but they do offer a pretty great option that is completely biodegradable.

The outer texture of the grip is very absorbent, which feels rough at the beginning of play. That is because a person has dry hands, and it needs to start building up a little bit of moisture to take it up a notch.

As soon as the person starts to sweat, the grip will then absorb some of the moisture and make it a pretty tacky feel overall. The holes in the grip help keep everything dry, even for those people who sweat a lot. It plays is a little similar to TournaGrip, but the perforated holes seem to dry things out a little quicker.

For those who are conscientious about the environment, there is also the bonus of these grips being completely biodegradable. It’s just another way for the company to stand out from the competition, offering tennis players an alternative that is starting to gain traction.

This is still clearly an overgrip that is flying under the radar, but they are starting to become more and more prevalent. 

Women Love Playing Tennis with EcoGrip®

August 31 2018 – Women tennis players of all ages and skiils from around the world love playing tennis with EcoGrip from Own the Zone Sporting Goods (OTZ) .

EcoGrip is a very high performance, biodegradable overgrip used by top tennis pros, coaches and amateur players around the world. Annie Rockwell, a renowned tennis pro, coach and member of the Nevada Tennis Hall of Fame, has been playing with Hi-Tac EcoGrip for more than 4 years. “I play with Hi-Tac EcoGrip and recommend it to all my students who attend my tennis clinics in Las Vegas and Temecula, California.” said Annie. “Once you switch to EcoGrip you can’t go back to your old grip, the feel is just so much better. I have been playing tennis for many years and EcoGrip is simply the best.”

WTA tennis star CiCi Bellis,19, won’t argue with that assessment. During the Spring and Summer of 2017 CiCi played with Hi-Tac EcoGrip to achieve her highest ranking of No. 35 in the world. At the end of 2017 CiCi won the WTA Newcomer of the Year award for her rankings achievement and her solid performance across all surfaces.

Excellent tennis players in Europe also love playing with EcoGrip. Silvia Zappa, 25, a very competitive player for Tennis Club Alta Branza in Northern Italy recently switched to EcoGrip for environmental and sustainability reasons. “I personally use 72-120 grips a year.” said Silvia. “Think about all the overgrips pro and amateur players use all over the world in a tennis season. It’s a serious problem! Millions of non-biodegradable tennis grips every single week are thrown away. To solve this problem I have found a fantastic solution! I will only use ECOGRIP! You can see Silvia’s very good tennis blog and photos at https://silviatennis.wordpress.com/

Anna Tang, 14, from Denmark is one of the many Next Gen players that are switching to EcoGrip. She is not looking back. Playing with Smooth EcoGrip for the first time, two weeks ago Anna won the Tennis Europe U14 tournament in both singles and doubles in Hillerod, Denmark. “I really like these grips.” says an ever smiling Anna, “They play great and feel great!”

EcoGrip’s patented polymer allows the Hi-Tac, Smooth and Pro overgrips to safely decompose in the environment in just one year after removal from a racket. Almost all tennis racket overgrips thrown away each year – count more than 1,000.000.000 (one billion), are made of PU – Polyurethane. PU which is also used to make heart valves, skateboard wheels and pillow cushions won’t fully decompose for several decades, if ever, in the environment.

As we all enjoy the U.S. Open let’s think about how we can make tennis more sustainable. EcoGrip is one solution that can actually improve your game. EcoGrip helps players Win on & off the Court. Change your grips, Change the World!

July 29, 2014 – Mentor, Ohio – Clay Thompson, former #1 Collegiate Player, joins forces with Own the Zone, becoming first Pro to use Eco Friendly Overgrips on ATP Tour.

Under the partnership Thompson will play with EcoGrip® and OTZ band vibration dampeners at all his matches for one year.

Own the Zone Sporting Goods (OTZ) , a leader in the tennis accessories market is pleased to announce its partnership with Clay Thompson, the No .1 ranked collegiate player for most of 2014. Clay played #1 seed at UCLA and was ranked #1 in the NCAA standings for 17 consecutive weeks this past season. Under the partnership Clay will play with OTZ EcoGrip and OTZ band vibration dampeners on his racquets for one year.

“I am very pleased to turn professional and enter into a partnership with Own the Zone. Their high performance EcoGrip, the world’s first biodegradable overgrip is an eco-friendly milestone for the tennis industry. The team at OTZ has set the precedent for all other grip companies to follow. In addition to the grips, the OTZ band dampeners are also world-class” said Clay Thompson. “I started using OTZ band dampeners on my racquets two and half years ago when I was a junior at UCLA. The dampening is superb, the band never flies off my racquet and I was able to style them in blue and yellow, Bruin colors. This January I started using EcoGrip Pro and have never looked back. The EcoGrip brand is the next big thing in the tennis world.”

Thompson, who is from Venice, California, is embarking on his first year on the ATP Tour. He was a four year scholar athlete at UCLA. After being ranked No.1 in the nation for most of the season, Clay was named to the All Pac 12 Men’s Tennis Team and he was named the 2014 Pac 12 Men’s Tennis Scholar Athlete of the Year.

“This is our first tennis sponsorship and we are very proud to be working together with Clay who was the top tennis college player in the U.S. this season,” said David Marcus, Co-President of Own the Zone. “Clay is a smart, hard working player with a powerful serve and volley game. He wants to excel on the Tour. Co-President Julius Stockfish added, “We are excited that Clay will be playing with our two high performance tennis products — OTZ Band dampeners and EcoGrip. Clay will be the first pro to win on and off the court with EcoGrip.”

About Own the Zone Sporting Goods: Own the Zone is a leading sporting goods company in the ‘eco friendly, green’ niche. Own the Zone is already marketing four (4) types of overgrips: EcoGrip Smooth is for players seeking the most comfortable grip, EcoGrip Hi-Tac has comfort and longer lasting tack. Eco-Grip Pro is aimed for advanced players who like a slim grip. EcoGrip Dry is for players looking for a very dry, comfortable grip. OTZ band dampeners have been sold since 2006. They are recognized as the best dampener on the market for tennis rackets. OTZ products are currently sold over over the Net at http://www.otzsports.com
Contact Information Own the Zone Sporting Goods, Tel: + 1(866)802-5550,info@otzsports.com

You have to look very closely to see it, but many top tennis pros at the US Open have started playing with band vibration dampeners on their racquets. This is a new trend. Italian tennis player Roberta Vinci who upset Serena Williams, the popular Victoria Azarenka and mixed doubles finalists Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Sam Querrey all play with band dampeners on their racquets. They join long time banders Maria Sharapova, Kevin Anderson and Bernard Tomik. Clay Thompson new ATP Tour Pro and former #1 ranked college player from UCLA says: “I much prefer the band type of dampener to the standard round smiley face look. The bands never fly off, provide a better feel and look much cooler. The colorful OTZ bands are without a doubt the best on the market.” Own the Zone has been selling OTZ band dampeners in 9 different colors since 2006. Join the OTZ Band.